A Matter Of Choice

[papillon]

Time for more game theory! I was thinking about the *kinds* of choices we can make in a visual novel and trying to categorise them. A game can easily have many different kinds of choices inside it, so this isn't about game types, just choice-types. Can you think of any that I've missed? Are any of these intrinsically *bad* types of choices that should never be included?

Scene Branch - Selecting between A and B will get you to two very different scenes. Depending on the type of game, they may or may not reconnect later on.

False Branch - You have a choice between A and B, but if you choose B, the character will either think about or start to do B, and then do A instead.

Futile Choice - You have a choice between A and B, but whichever you choose, the character ends up doing C instead.

Conversational Choice - The character is asked a question and the player has several possible ways to respond, but the flow of the conversation is not changed. Easiest example: the character is asked whether they know about Theory Y. If yes, the conversation goes on. If no, Theory Y is explained, then the conversation goes on. Another example - a range of cookies is described and the character is asked which is their favorite. The player selects a cookie, the character says something nice about whichever cookie was chosen, eats it, and the conversation continues.

Point-Scoring Choice - Similar to Conversational, except that the choice is secretly important and a variable is stored for later use. Perhaps the girl of your dreams will only love a boy who prefers cinnamon cookies.

Explorational Choice - You have a list of many options, and you must select ALL of them in turn in order to proceed. Maybe you are searching rooms for a hidden person and the program is written so that you always find them in the last place you look... Sometimes you must visit each option more than once!

Pop Quiz - You have a list of options, but only one is 'correct'. If you pick the wrong option, you end up back at the list of choices again until you find the correct one. However, you do not have to choose every option. If you get it right the first time, you can go ahead.

[monele]

Scene branch : sounds almost mandatory

False branch & futile choice : I usually don't like both but it can be used as long as their futility is well hidden. If you're told "Nah I'll do it my way" right away, it's kinda pointless. If at least you're given the illusion something is *tried* your way before going back to the default choice, it won't feel as useless... maybe.

Conversational choice : While not forcefully useful to reach particular endings, they often add to depth.

Point scoring : [snip whole paragraph explaning just this... *should read ahead*] I thought of using this in my old project.

Explorational choice : Hmm... At least this could bring surprise on a second replay : "haha I know where she is !... what, she isn't there??". And anxiety follows . But this would end up being pointless after these two times I think. You could make the exploration part useful for something else though : 4 people split to look for the lost girl. The first choice you pick will have you meet one of the girls that went searching. You find the lost girl afterwards for the sake of the plot.

Pop Quiz : Sounds close to the False Branch one.

[papillon]

Personally, I think 'explorational choices' are an enormous pain in the butt. Some of the older games that have been translated into English are like this... you have to visit EVERY place on the map in order to advance, and it gets so tiring.

And yes, on replay, it feels like a lot of wasted time.

The difference between the false branch and the pop quiz is that the false branch doesn't make you choose again - it just moves you onto the "right" direction after a moment of being wrong. With a quiz you have to keep picking until you find the way out.

[PyTom]

Don't forget the:

Branch of Doom in which all but one of the choices at a branch leads to an immediate bad ending. Actually, this is almost merciful compared to the sort of game that lets you make a wrong choice early in the game, and then play through the entire game only to get a bad ending.

[absinthe]

As far as Branch of Doom goes, I don't necessarily mind an immediate bad ending -- I tend to count those as Pop-Quiz type choices, since ultimately, I just have to reload until I pick the right one.

But it has to be suited to the rest of the content; I mind a lot less opening the wrong door in a Temple of Doom and falling into a pit (Pride goeth before a fall?) than I do being eaten by a purple people eater out of the blue for asking a girl out on a date the wrong way.

And it can get very frustrating very quickly if there are no clues as to what you're doing wrong -- I played a game once where I was exploring an area, and for some reason, going in some directions resulted in flashy-light death. I'm not sure why I died, but I know after the fifth or sixth attempt I gave up on the game completely.

I LOATHE it when a choice you made near the beginning locks you into a bad ending ("Sorry, the aliens got you." "Why?" "You forgot to feed the dog the sandwich this morning." Whu-huh?). And worse, when there's no obvious way to tell what you did wrong. So there's no way to even know what to do differently the next time without consulting a walkthrough.

I always kind of enjoyed the Explorational Choice scheme; like Divi-dead, for example. I'm pathetic at games, so I like knowing I can just visit every location, twice if I have to, and something else will happen. But it can be really frustrating when you reach a point where you're absolutely certain you've visited every single spot and nothing is happening.

I think, ultimately, these all have a place in a creator's toolbox and overlap to some extent; it's just a matter of making sure the scheme chosen works with the situation and characters described.

If I have a character I portray as fickle, for example, using False Branch might make sense for a conversation. I'd record what option the player picked and have that impact the later parts of the game, though.

And, while I can see how it might be horribly misused, you could definitely use Futile Choice to good effect by combining it with Point-Scoring Choice. So you pick A or B, the NPC does C, and later, comes up to you and apologizes, saying he should have done whichever you suggested.

Probably not a separate category (probably part of Explorational Choice?) but what about "Location Exploration Choice" and "Temporal Exploration Choice"? In the first, you have to pick the right place to be or watch (but not necessarily hit all possible locations before something happens) to meet the NPC or speak with them, with the second, it has to be at the right time, too.

Perhaps the NPC is only present at a specific time of day in a location, and you have to choose to be there on time. Or perhaps the NPC is always accessible, but a particular conversational option is only available at a specific time of day, so you have to explore the time dimension as well as the area dimension.

Oh, and how about Keyword Choices? You speak to an NPC, find an object, or complete some other action, and receive a keyword that is added to your list of "Ask Abouts". You can now ask other NPCs about the keyword and see their reaction, even if it's just "Huh, what?" Probably more a style than anything else... but isn't it an interesting idea?

I'm thinking of that old Nintendo game, Deja Vu... man, I loved that game.

[Alessio]

Very nice list! I'd like to add the Compulsory Commitment Choice (CCC for short), copyright of PyTom, who used it smartly in Moonlight Walks:

When the player will marry Mary, he only has the choice to say "I do."

Edit: I'd say the Explorational Choice is not inherently bad, but if you use it like in Divi-Dead it gets very annoying. I see the point that sometimes you have to experience events in a certain order, but IMHO it's annoying having the player visit all locations in order to be able to proceed. That's just the author trying to increase the playing time.

[RedSlash]

There's also the Timed Choice (as in Sakura Taisen) where you get x seconds to make a choice or the default choice is selected automatically. In the case of Kinetic Novels, there's No Choice as you just read and view pretty pictures. To add, there's the Fork in the Road, where when presented with options A, B or C, selecting the option will take you down a completely different path from the other options (usually the major decision which determines the ending of the game).

[Taleweaver]

The Futile Choice / Point-Scoring Choice is what I used for the initial decisions in Foxtaile, though differently than mentioned above. The choices, while not immediately altering the course of the story, have an effect later on the choices OTHER characters take. So, for example, if you prevent one of your friends from making what you think is a grave mistake, that friend may later not be around when you need him the most...

I'd also like to add one more possible choice found, surprisingly, in Final Fantasy X-2, the I-Can't-Believe-That-Was-A-Choice. In one cut-scene in FFX-2, if the player pushes the X-button at the exact time (without knowing he can DO that at the moment), the Best Ending is unlocked. If he fails to push X, sorry, Normal Ending only.

Translated into a VN, that would be a choice segment where the player has the choice between A, B and C, only that C is hidden below the bottom of the screen and the player has to manually move the "choice cursor" down to access it. It's unfair, but it's been done.

[mikey]

There was another kind of choice I used in River Trap that I think wasn't mentioned, let's call it... the Retroactive Choice. One ending is written very generally and at the very end, you can choose whether it was with the one or the other girl. After you make the choice, credits start to roll.

[Counter Arts]

Well in Sakura Taisen there's also the Losing choices Choice. You have choice A, B, and C. However, if you wait a little too long choice B disappears.

There's also the Where?-Who? Choice. You're given a set of choices of where to go and you may or may not have an event. However, time is used up regardless.

And yes, some choices are just strange. "Mop the floor" or "Sweep the floor".

[monele]

And yes, some choices are just strange. "Mop the floor" or "Sweep the floor".

Tokimeki Check'in ? >.> Looks just like it XD

[clubanimon]

personally I have plans to use the pop quiz in one place, but its a one shot deal.
If you get the awnser right you'll make the girl happy, if you get it wrong (depending on how wrong) she'll think your a idiot or get the question wrong later on her homework.

Never say you can help some one with math homework when you suck at math.

[papillon]

That's technically not the same kind of choice, though. The point of the situation I was trying to address with that label was the player can't go any further until they pick the right answer. Just making a bad choice that has negative consequences later would be a point-scoring choice.

The main reason for distinguishing between pop quiz and explorational is that on replay, you can get through the area much faster if you only have to pick one right answer rather than being forced to pick every single answer - even if the first time you had to pick every single answer in order to find the right one.

I try to keep replay in mind when designing things - eventually in Fatal Hearts, all the separate puzzles/minigames will be skippable if you've solved them on a previous play. So you don't have to waste your time twisting the rubix cube more than once if you don't want to.

[musical74]

My two cents on this...

Scene branch: Isn't this mandatory?

False Branch: Not too sure about this one. It sounds, to me. like there really shouldn't be a choice if branch A isn't really a branch.

Futile choice: Don't really care for this one. I'd like this one better if the character tried A, that didn't work, so he tried B, and then realizing that C is the way to go rather than *Heck with whatever the player wants I'm choosing C.*

Conversational Choice: This is a good one. It shows interest in the player for the NPC and reacts accordingly. For example, if the player expresses an interest in cimmamon cookies, and the gal she's talking to LOVES cimmanom cookies, it will have a different effect than if the player says he's indifferent to them.

Points-scoring Choice: REALLY depends on the game, but for the most part I like it.

Exploratory choice: Oh man, I HATE these. Seeaching for that ONE piece that you are missing so you can go on...and it doesn't show for awhile...UGH, with one exception (Nocturnal Illusion) I try to avoid these when I can.

Pop-Quiz: Haven't had that one yet...but I think it's better not to do it. Once a player knows the answer to it, he can totally ignore the other choices. I think, if there was to be a point-scoring system behind the pop quiz this would work better - that is, if you choose path B, which is the wrong one, but it improves your relationship with someone...just a thought.

Branch of Doom: I don't care for this, but I would much rather have that than *oh, because of a choice you made WAAAAAAY back in the beginning you get the bad ending.*

Keyword choices: I have a game where this is used, and I LOVE it. I think it adds to the feeling of the game, and it's always nice when the NPC contribute to the feel of the game. (even if they give you a total blank look)

Regarding Deja Vu on the NES...I have it, gotta play it again